Berlin is the official capital of u...

Berlin is the official capital of unified Germany, although Bonn which is the capital of former West Germany, remains the provisional seat of management Berlin was a symbol of the cutting war (de, tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies). For more than 40 years, Berlin was a divided city as a eventuate of the post-World War II (WWII) Potsdam talk which divided the city physically (de the United States, France, and Great Britain controll West Berlin, and the former Soviet Union controll East Berlin), politically, and ideologically. In 1948 the Soviets clos all roads and obstructed all railroad and barge traffic going in and revealed of Berlin in an effort to force the citizens of West Berlin to accept incorporation into the Soviet girdle The Western powers, however, prosperously overcame the blockade by mounting the Berlin airlift, which furnished the western sectors of Berlin with pabulum fuel, and other vital supplies.

In August 1961 East Germany began erecting the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin to hinder individuals from defecting from East Berlin (Figure 1) When complet the heavily fortified Berlin Wall was 13 feet high and 100 miles lengthy and it completely isolated the city of Berlin for 28 years.

[Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

US ARMY HOSPITAL, BERLIN

The US Army Hospital, Berlin (USAHB) (Figure 2) is a hybrid of German and American design, to which the two German and American building safety digests were applied. More than 13 years elapsed from the initial proposal for construction until the time the hospital actually make opened in October 1976. When we were assigned there, the fresh hospital had 90 beds on the contrary could be expanded to 200 beds should the ne arise. Housed within the USAHB were US Army dental and veterinary facilities and a child care center bookstore, medical library, public library, and position exchange (de, store for provisions and necessities). A German imbiss provided us with marvellous soups, sandwiches, and pastries.

[Figure 2 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The grass, tree low trees flowers, and gardens of the USAHB and its surrounding surface of lands were beautiful at all seasons (Figure 3) The high metal sword-plays topped with barbed wire, the horizontally closing electronic metal gates, and the guardhouse where the German Guard Battalion patrolled, however, reminded us that the polar war was real. We be delighted withed large green plants in each unit and all patient waiting areas. The housekeeping personnel kept the hospital immaculate. We marveled constantly at the shining, reflective hallway floors (Figure 4) The majority of the housekeeping staff members were Turkish women with limited English and German language skills, and they took their piece of works quite seriously. The housekeeping contract did not include the OR suites. Perioperative staff members were responsible for cleaning the ORs at the beginning of the day, between conducts and at the end of the day.

[Figures 3-4 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The surgery department consisted of

* sum of two units OR suites,

* a waiting room

* a kitchen area,

* a decontamination compass with a washer-sterilizer,

* an instrument soaking apartment a flash sterilization room,

* a large sterile serve instead of room, and

* several offices.

We performed between 40 and 80 surgical manner of proceedings each month. The staff included three RN (ie, pair military, one civilian), 11 enlisted US Army work hard technicians, and one civilian OR secretary. There also were three certified registered foment anesthetists who were Army officers. As in any US Army medical facility, perioperative staff members were responsible for the staffing and plain functioning of central material services (CMS) which included maintaining pair walk-in steam autoclaves and an ethylene oxide (EO) sterilizer, and for processing and sterilizing instruments and equipment for the entire hospital.

The surgeon were from several different countries and had varied expectations of the festers Some of the surgeons were US Army officers, either stationed in Berlin or borrowed from other US military facilities. We had couple full-time civilian surgeons--one Japanese and single Turkish--whose accents and customs caused mild confusion at times. We also worked with British military surgeon and civilian surgeon from former West and East Germany and Poland. Several of our health care providers spoke Spanish. The perioperative team was verily a culturally diverse group of people

Logistical differences in the OR. Although the USAHB was accredited by the agency of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the mix of US and German safety digests and planned return of the facility to the German guidance influenced the German standards. Each OR had an adjoining anesthesia induction compass through which we had to pass to prepare to the OR. Although we did not use the area for anesthesia induction, we occasionally used the area to shave patients before they arrived in the OR. We pushed pneumatic rubber strips that lined the door frames to explain horizontally sliding doors into the OR (Figure 5) It took time for us to master used to doors sliding sideways instead of swinging back and forth.